youngsters depart for europe

[Canaris]

so long as the kids are not being forced to follow their parents dreams?

[GFishy]

so long as the kids are not being forced to follow their parents dreams?

 

Which often is the case!

[shadowchaser-d]

I don't think that missing school for 3 weeks is such a big deal and sure that most of the youngsters will be able to cope with the workload on return.

 

There are pro's and con's to leaving school early to persue ones dreams.  A close friend of mine left school and SA at the age of 10 to join the Boleteri Tennis Academy.  Her tennis career went ok but she was no Steffi Graff and at the age of 19 called it a day.  She now has many regrets.  She does not have a matric (fortunately she coaches tennis) but if it was not for tennis......??  She also had no friends growing up as all your "friends" were your competitors and continually fighting for a spot on the "elite" training group and to get through the next round, etc.  Had no parents growing up.  The list go's on.

 

Another close friend of the family daughter has been trying to qualify for the 2008 olympics (swimming team) she left school at standard 8, has travelled abroad, experienced so much more than most 16 years old, mom gives her home schooling.  She has just missed out on qualifying times for games......so was it worth the sacrifice.  In her case i think, yes, she is so mature and has a good head on her.  She has done exceptionally well at school and will enrol at varsity in the USA next year.  Maybe she will never reach her dream of going to the olympics but she is most certainly no worse off for leaving school.

 

I still don't know what the answer is re home schooling.  but i will say good luck to those youngsters and enjoy the moment as they are very frotunate to have this opportunity at such a young age.

 

If i am not mistaken, i don't think Wayne Ferreira or Amanda Coetze finsihed school and they are ok today? 

[Void2]

we will be based in castlebar from the 5th july till the 14th july hope to see you again this year gianni

 

just for the record once again!!!!!!!! non of these kids are home schooling pupils  they are all school going kids (normal sa education dept schools)with good grades and are going with the blessing of all of the school principles

Void22008-05-30 04:42:20

[porky]

we will be based in castlebar from the 5th july till the 14th july hope to see you again this year gianni

 

just for the record once again!!!!!!!! non of these kids are home schooling pupils  they are all school going kids (normal sa education dept schools)with good grades and are going with the blessing of all of the school principles

 

Fair enough.

 

I dont think anyone was taking a swipe at you or your efforts. Its just that there is a perception in SA especially amongst youngsters (and in many instances this is re-enforced by adults who should know better) that its okay to drop out of school and try and become a pro cyclist.

 

I think theres a good reason for warning kids against such foolish thinking.!

 

[Formerly known as easy rider]

Good on you Void 2.

 

What a marvelous experience for these guys.

 

Please get them to post their race reports and experiences on the hub.Many of us would like to hear how they get on and learn more about the overseas cycling scene.

 

3 weeks of mid year school versus an overseas cycling hol.mmmmm

tough decision if you're a mother grundy thats into mediocrity and "the right thing to do"vs a life well lived.

[Harryn]

Well, I must say I have found the intelligent and interesting debate in this thread to be hugely refreshing - a far cry from the kinda BS that goes on here lately.

 

On the whole, Sean, I agree with  the views you have expressed. If South Africa is going to excel in sports, it is not going to happen without dedication and commitment from the youngsters who form the talent pool. I also think that many kids at age 18 are in any event too young to take University seriously - delaying their tertiary education for a couple of years would probably benefit them in the long run (and certainly reduce the drop out rate).

[Sammajoor]

Best of luck Jill Wish I had the money to send Wayne,  he is currently in fantastic form

 

Good luck luck and good racing

 

[slowpoke]

Void - good on you for organising this and helping htese kids witha great learning opportunity.

 

yes, htey are all gonna be working hteir butts off ont heir return to be sure their marks stay in line with requirements for hte team, but all that this will do is teach them the discipline required to achieve in ANY sphere of life.

 

GOOD LUCK BOYS!!!!! MAKE US PROUD BY DOING YOUR BEST!!!!!

 

(ffs, what's 3 weeks of school work to catch up??? i take it none of you lot complaining have ever missed a few days of school or allowed your kids to do so? i know many peeps who arrange holidays that the kids miss a couple of days here and there, sometimes even a week and the kids just catch up on hteir return)

[nellie]

Okay...here it is from my side, i'm still in school, would love to be out on the bike the whole day and tour around on my bike, but luckily my parents has got it into my head over the last few years that in order to survive in this country, nothing is guaranteed, especially not in sport.

 

I mean, sure - it's great, you get some sponsors at junior level when you perform really well, maybe a few when you go to elites. But please raise your hand if you are able to make a living from cycling alone and have been able to do that for the last couple of years (say 10 years to put a spanner in your spokes) That means, not doing ANYTHING else other than sitting with your bum on the saddle.

 

You're going to need an education some or other time. When you're past your "sell by date" on the bike (btw - what age is that nowadays in SA cycling?)...what are you going to do then? You're going to be too old then to really be able to depend on your parents to pay for your studies and all the costs involved. Also another question - by that time - what would you really have achieved on the bike? What will you have to show?

 

I might be sounding very negative, but that's how i feel about these things. I see people who i know didn't give their best in school whose spelling and grammar is absolutely horrible!!! If they can't even get the basics of their home language correct in a normal conversation, i do not even want to know what their other subjects' marks looked like. In order to learn these things, you need to be in school, in class paying attention.

 

Being absent for a few days is acceptable, but missing weeks and weeks of school with the current syllabus - man, that's just crazy!! Some of you think it's okay missing school up to gr.11. I've got news for you (and good luck to your kids) - grade 10 and 11 is just as hectic as Matric in the new system! Plus - you need to have a [very!] solid foundation of most of the work in these two years to be able to cope in matric. I'm by far not the least intelligent student in my year, but i had to work my arse off to get good marks in all of my subjects. Unfortunately cycling had to take a dip, but that's a sacrifice that i believe will benefit me in the long term.

 

There are many talented young men and ladies in SA, but where are they going? For all of them i sincerely hope they reach their goals, but the sad reality is that they are not all going to succeed in our sport. So half the grown-ups tell all of them to go ahead and ride their bikes...are these same grown-ups going to be there for them when they break down because they are not part of that small group who can actually persue the dream that all of us who've competed at what ever level has dreamed about at some stage of our lives? When they do not have a matric certificate or when the marks on the said certificate can't get them into Universities?

 

Fair enough...not all 17/18 year olds know exactly what they want to do yet, but as parents and responsible people, you can at least encourage them to do their best in school. After that they can take a gap year or two, maybe ride their bikes, get some experience... But at least then, when they have figured out what they want - they have the necessary paperwork to back them up.

 

I can give you quite a few examples of people who have done exceptionally well on the bike, but they still have something to back them up. Massive respect to these men and woman. (especially to the pro ladies in our country who i've talked to and learned from personally!)

 

my 2c

[Pieter Henning]

If someone has the discipline to excel in sport' date=' they will apply it to schoolwork...
[/quote']

 

Nah, that's not always valid - I know a lot of guys who found it easy training on the toughest programs with utmost dedication, but too lazy to pick up a book unless it's absolutely necessary. It's usually much easier to do what you love (cycling hard), than to do what you have to (study hard).

[rpedro]

Almost 10 years later. Can we please revive this chat and see how opinions have changed or cemented. I think this discussion can be interesting in hindsight.

[Fox3]

I'd like to know who of the kids are now pro...

[Andrew Steer]

I'd like to know who of the kids are now pro...

None from my view...

Don't recall any of them making any real waves

 

I'm not the most clued up on local road cycling though

[Gen]

I know 2 names there.. JC Nel rides for a local pro team and last I heard Donovan Lubbe was working on a farm in the States..

 

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[buckstopper]

On the road racing side, Louis Meintjes, JC Nel, James Fourie, Wesley Eslick, HB Kruger, Sean-Nic Bester, Jade Julius Steven van Heerden (I stand corrected). These are names from the U16/Juniors of 2007-2009 academies (Toyota, Mr Price and other) that come to mind who are still racing at Elite level, and who were dominant / competitive in their age groups. My daughter, one of the "guys" at the Toyota academy, heard some German Rap music on her only European trip with Jill. After stopping racing she completed matric, and a humanities degree with German as one of her majors. She is currently 18 months into an engineering degree in Germany (in German, and succeeding). Her  single-minded determination as a youth cyclist, that enabled her to be competitve in the ladies elite pelaton at 16, has I believe, been a major factor in her current and far more important endeavour. Not one of that peer group of girls raced as elites successfully. I think Heidi Dalton is the only girl who has made the grade (again, I stand corrected). In hindsight are there lessons to take from this? Sure, and what opportunity costs / other directions / choices for the youngsters does one bring into the debate?